Arca Publishing

CTS 7: Intergenerational Dialogue

CTS 7: Conference Theme

Bouzane, Darla

1 
 
 
Cherish Them 
Darla Bouzane 
Memories work in funny ways: the way you can forget about them for a while or the way they 
often blur into one another. Mostly they’re funny in the way they come rushing back at the 
moment something reminds you of them.  
I’m twenty and sitting in the living room of my childhood house. The carpet is the same dark 
brownish-red that it has always been. The same green trim lines the ceiling. I’m sure there’s a 
smell lingering in the air that my nose isn’t privy to. I’m home for winter break, as usual. Next to 
me is my boyfriend of almost three years. We have a movie playing on Netflix when my mom 
comes in and asks him to shovel the driveway.  
Something is wrong. 
You see, she usually won’t ask him to shovel for us. One of her neighbours usually does it for 
her with his quad. My boyfriend agrees, probably sensing that she needs to talk to me. He pulls 
on a toque and his jacket, heading out the front door while she sits down next to me. She tells me 
that the doctors see a spot. She tells me they think it might be cancer. A flood of memories and 
tears wash over me, so many tears. 
*** 
I was ten years old and sitting on the top bunk of my best friend’s bed. There’s no door and I 
could smell the Kraft Dinner wafting in from the kitchen. Her room was small and the ceiling 
light gave everything a slightly yellow hue. We sat facing each other, our legs crossed so that we 
both fit comfortably. I remember telling her that I thought my dad had cancer. He didn’t. Not yet, 
anyway. She confided in me that her dad was also sick. This isn’t her story, though. This is mine. 
This is my dad’s. 
I was sixteen. We had just moved back to Kitimat, a small town in northern British Columbia, 
and back into our little old house. The purple fence around our backyard had faded to brown. 
Snow still covered the ground; it was only December. You see, my dad was sick and needed 
treatment. His workplace wouldn’t cover his trips to Vancouver from Kamloops, which meant 
2 
 
 
we had to move home. Our move happened mid-school, year meaning I was halfway through 
eleventh grade. I wanted the move for silly, childish reasons. I didn’t realize how sick my dad 
actually was.   
A few months later my parents were out of town. My dad was having tests done. I remember the 
call so vividly. I was staying at my Nan’s house in Kitimat. She muted the TV as she picked up 
the phone. She was silent as she passed the phone to me. I don’t remember who was on the other 
end of the call, but it was probably my mom. The voice on the other end shook as it told me the 
news. Tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks as I listened. I remember hoping it was a 
cruel April fool’s joke. It wasn’t. His disease had developed into cancer. It was stage four. They 
should have caught it sooner. They didn’t.   
I managed to finish the school year. It was summer and we stayed in a hotel in Vancouver. The 
hotel was in the busy downtown area. I was sitting with my parents, my aunt, and uncle outside 
of a coffee shop. The air was warm but the building shaded us from overheating. People buzzed 
by, understandably occupied with their own lives. They didn’t notice how my life was falling 
apart in the middle of it all. Why should they? I stared down at my drink, my mind somewhere 
else, or anywhere else. I caught the smell of freshly ground coffee beans as it flowed out of the 
shop when the door was propped open. The scent pulled me back into the conversations. The 
adults were talking about my dad’s health. Someone said that he would be around for a long time 
yet. I asked if that meant graduation long. Graduation was ten months away.  My mom shook her 
head no and reached towards my shoulder. For what was probably the second hundredth time in 
five months, tears flowed down my cheeks as I broke a little bit more in the middle of a busy 
city. 
The last summer with him was not all heartache. Don’t get me wrong, it was mostly heartache. 
Especially as we slowly realized it was, in fact, our last summer. Before our trip to Vancouver, 
we stopped in Kamloops to visit my grandparents, my dad’s parents. He was in pain, as he had 
been for a long time. We stopped at the hospital and they gave us the news about his spine. 
That’s when he had to start wearing a neck brace. He could have been paralyzed at any moment 
without that brace. I was in the kitchen when they told me that. The horrifying news made my 
knees weak and I slunk down against the wall. My dad, however, was grateful. Not because of 
the possibility of being paralyzed, but because it meant he didn’t have to join us on the 
3 
 
 
Hellevator at the PNE. While he might have been trying to cheer us up with some laughter, he 
was genuinely afraid of that ride and had been dreading the idea of it as we planned our trip to 
the PNE.  
We were back in Kitimat for the start of the school year. It was the end of September. September 
29th to be exact, my dad’s birthday. I know they talk about the last good day and not knowing 
that it’s the last good day when it’s happening. Or maybe that’s just a quote from a movie I 
watched. Either way, his birthday was his last good day. We had dinner for him at my Nan’s 
house. Turkey dinner and birthday cake. He was so excited for his birthday. I swear he had been 
talking about it for weeks. “Turkey dinner and birthday cake,” he would smile and lick his lips, 
his eyes closed. I can’t tell you who was there, or what kind of cake we ate. At this point, people 
were coming and going all the time. They all knew it was almost time. They all knew we needed 
whatever support they could offer. I can tell you, however, that he wasn’t able to walk up the 
steps anymore. Two of my uncles had to carry him up and into the house. 
 Everything can change so quickly. The day after his birthday was a Friday and I had been sitting 
in the library in my usual spot during my spare block. I had my headphones in, listening to the 
same song I’d been listening to all week, “One Step at a Time” by Four Year Strong. I glanced at 
my phone, surprised to see a text from my mom. She was outside waiting to pick me up. I always 
took the bus so this was pretty weird. My dad was getting worse and it was time for me to stay 
home from school. On Sunday, I put on a show for him. I laid down next to him on his hospital 
bed and watched the show we had enjoyed so many times before. The next few days were a blur. 
Our family was coming and going; they were always bringing food. They wanted to make sure 
we ate something, I guess. I remember going to bed on Tuesday exhausted and scared. I had 
always been such a daddy’s girl. What was I going to do without him?  
The next morning I woke up and wiped the sleep from my eyes. I walked into the living room, 
where the bed was, and kissed my dad’s forehead. I told him good morning; I told him I loved 
him. I love him. That doesn’t change just because he isn’t here anymore. Some time passes, I 
can’t tell you how long, then he is gone. We had our chance to say goodbye. Everyone was 
convinced he had waited for me to wake up, he waited to let me say goodbye.  
*** 
4 
 
 
I had always been very close to my parents. Unfortunately for my mom, she got the backlash of 
my teen years. My terrible teen years started to end when my dad was sick and I grew closer to 
my mom.. She became my rock, my shoulder to cry on, and my listening ear. I had learned to 
cherish my relationship with her. If she was sick, I would have left school. But I had to go back, 
it was my third year, after all. I resigned myself to focus on anything besides my mom’s health. 
It didn’t work. It was a waiting game for a few weeks. Waiting for the results. Waiting to hear if 
everything was changing. Again. Back home, my cousin was staying with my mom. We tried to 
assure each other that it was going to be okay. Something was nagging at me, buzzing in the 
back of my mind. Questions whirled around. What if she dies? Can an adult be orphaned? Or 
would they just be a parentless adult? I can’t lose her, too.  
And then the results came in. 
It turned out that the spot was just a spot. She was going to be okay. Relief washed over me.  
*** 
As I sit here, thinking about my two amazing parents, I am so grateful. I am incredibly fortunate 
to have had two wonderful parents raise me. I think about other relationships I see between other 
parents and their children. I know not all parents are like mine, but those are not the ones I am 
thinking about. Whenever someone pushes their loving parents away, I just want to shake them 
and tell them to love them instead, to take every opportunity to get to know them, to cherish 
them. 


English

Cherish Them

A great-granddaughter reflects on her dying great grandmother as she pays her last visit to her

Evans, Bronwen

Room 32, Winner 1st TRU Creative Non-Fiction Competition, 2017

Zhang, Kelvin

Exploring Critical Conceptual Space in Hospitality Higher Education

Zamanillo, Lourdes

Cheer, Joseph

Can Pro-Social Tourism Foster Empathy?

Mulindwa, Dirisa

 
 
Title: The Politics of Community-Based Tourism in Uganda: Perspectives on Power and Local 
Governance in Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary 
Author: Dirisa Mulindwa 
Affiliation: University of Sunderland, London 
Contact: dirisa.mulindwa@sunderland.ac.uk 
Session Type: Presentation 
 
Abstract: 
Over the last few decades, there has been a significant push from various scholars, and 
development and environmental agencies, to encourage greater participation by local people in 
the governance of tourism in their areas (Ashley, 2007; Roe et al., 2009; Giampiccoli & Mtapuli, 
2015; Giampiccoli & Saayman, 2016). Proponents of tourism as a viable tool for community 
development have long suggested that when communities are in charge of tourism development, 
it could lead to alternative livelihoods and social, educational, and cultural benefits (Murphy, 
2013; Scheyvens, 1999, 2002; Kontogeorgopoulos et al., 2014). Local governance has been 
promoted as an essential element of development in rural remote areas, particularly those 
adjacent to National Parks in developing countries. The literature highlights the merits and 
importance of the concept of participation in tourism management and planning (Muganda et al., 
2013; Brokaj, 2014; Goodwin et al., 2014). However, issues of power and how participation is 
defined by the local residents and the individuals who lead the governance of the local tourism 
enterprise are rarely understood and conceptualised. 
This paper examines power negotiations by local residents in a community-based tourism 
enterprise in Bigodi, Uganda. It highlights the political dimensions of development practices by 
emphasising the role of power in the negotiations of who participates and their level of 
participation in the community-based tourism enterprises. The concept of power is used in this 
paper to mean the application of knowledge and resources to effect decisions, resolve problems, 
and further one’s interest. Drawing on an ethnographic study, a community tourism lens is used to 
understand how power engenders or distorts governance. 
The data on which this paper is based encompass a decade of interactions with the 
residents of Bigodi, revisiting the study area several times. The study started with the perspective 
of understanding how community-based tourism can contribute to poverty alleviation in rural 
communities in Uganda. However, in the process of collecting data and spending more time in the 
Bigodi, I also picked up interest in power and governance of the tourism resources and how 
benefits are distributed within the community. The study relied on in-depth interviews. Kvale 
(1996) identified two positions (metaphors) of in-depth interviews: the researcher is both a miner 
and a traveller. Kvale (1996) referred to the qualitative researcher as a miner who, through in-
depth interviews, unearths the valuable metal (knowledge). He also recognised that knowledge is 
not given, but instead created and negotiated; therefore, the researcher is a traveller on a journey 
with the interviewees. Through conversations, the interviewees lead the researcher to new 
insights that he/she interprets to get meanings (Kvale, 1996). The narratives for this study were 
developed from these two perspectives, where, as a researcher, I was both a miner and a traveller. 
I collected data through participant observation and informal conversations from both the 
residents of Bigodi and the leaders of Kibale Association for Rural an Environmental and 
Development (KAFRED). Through interactions with the community, questions were raised about 
whether the western type of governance is the right model to use in the community-based 
tourism enterprises of the South, particularly in light of the failure of previous organising efforts 
 
 
that tried to apply democratic governance in local communities of the developing world. 
KAFRED in Bigodi presented a good case study on how local people negotiate issues of 
power, and how this in turn influences governance. The natural area of tourism in Bigodi is 
directly owned by the community, and tourism is developed and managed by the local people.  
Naturally, one would assume that the leadership being made up of local people would encourage 
wide community involvement in the decision-making process and equitable sharing of the 
benefits. However, as this study discovered, there is a strategic relationship between the politico-
economic interests of the people in power, the knowledge of tourism management which at any 
time dominates the discourse on power, and the models of leadership which are adopted. 
Community-based governance in tourism does represent any radical structural deviation from the 
governance is practiced in Sub-Saharan Africa; rather, it could be understood as a as a non-
coercive instrument of power, through which the development interests of dominant actors are 
achieved. The nature of KAFRED membership, and its limitation to a few people in the 
community, make this an interesting, but atypical example of elite-dominated organisation mixed 
with traditional values. Though there are benefits derived from the good governance of the 
community tourism enterprise, there are also power constraints that hinder community 
involvement and equity in a locally owned tourism project. However, the success of the 
community-based tourism enterprise on the socio-economic and environmental perspectives also 
raises questions about whether the control of power by a few individuals could be the most 
suitable governance model in this rural area of Uganda. 
 
References: 
Ashley, C., De Brine, P., Lehr, A., & Wilde, H. (2007). The role of tourism sector in expending  
economic opportunities. Harvard Economic Opportunity Series. 
Giampiccoli, A., & Mtapuli, O. (2015). Between theory and practice: A conceptualisation of  
community-based tourism and community participation. Loyola Journal of Social Science 
29(1), 27–52. 
Gianpiccoli, A., & Saayman, M. (2016). Community based tourism: From a local to a global  
push. Acta Commercii, 16(1), 1–10. 
Goodwin, H., Santili, R., & Armstrong, R. (2014). Community-based tourism in the developing  
world: Delivering the good. Progress in Responsible Tourism, 3(1), 31–56. 
Kontogeorgopoulos, K., Churyen, A., & Duangsaeng, V. (2014). Success factors in community  
based tourism in Thailand: The role of luck, external support, and local leadership. 
Tourism Planning & Development, 11(1), 106–124. 
Murphy, P.E. (2014). Tourism: A community approach. London: Routledge Library Edition  
(Tourism). 
Roe, D., Nelson, F., & Sandbrook, C. (2009). Community management of natural resources in  
Africa: Impacts, experiences and future directions. London: IIED. 
Scheyvens, R. (1999). Ecotourism and the empowerment of local communities. Tourism  
Management, 20, 245–249. 
Scheyvens, R (2002). Tourism development: Empowering communities. Harlow: Prentice Hall. 
 
  


The Politics of Community-Based Tourism in Uganda: Perspectives on Power and Local Governance in Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary

Morgan, Nigel

Harrill, Rich

Dioko, Leonardo

 
 
Title: Travel and Tourism in Film and Literature: A Critical Review 
Author: Nigel Morgan1, Rich Harrill2, Leonardo Dioko3 
Affiliation: University of Swansea1; University of South Carolina2; Institute for Tourism 
Studies, Macau3 
Contact: Nigel.Morgan@Swansea.ac.uk 
Session Type: Presentation 
 
Abstract: 
This article takes up Beeton’s (2015) challenge of more integration between critical 
tourism and tourism film studies, in an attempt to close the hermeneutical circle between film 
and audience, theory and practice, and reflection and experience. Travel and tourism in film and 
literature provides an effective method of teaching the questions posed by critical tourism, while 
critical tourism adds theoretical depth to tourism film studies. Similarly, audiences make explicit 
the connection between critical tourism learning outcomes and lessons gleaned from travel 
narratives, informing their own travel experiences. Personal transformation (enlightenment) is 
often central to these outcomes, as well as recognition of power, oppression, and exploitation 
(empowerment and emancipation) encountered through travel. By providing some examples of 
travel and literature, this review provides for the broad exploration of geographies, histories, 
cultures, genders, identities, and socio-economic classes. 
The purpose of this critical review is to explore selected works of film and literature that 
may be helpful in understanding the (1) possibilities of transformation and self-discovery 
through travel, (2) negative consequences of colonialism and neocolonialism in travel and 
tourism, and (3) sex tourism and the North–South divide. This review does not provide an 
exhaustive bibliography of travel and tourism in film and literature—such an undertaking would 
likely consume several volumes—nor does this review address film- or literary-induced tourism, 
or travel to destinations based on actual, disguised, or faux portrayals in film and literature. 
Despite limitations, this review provides examples of travel and tourism in film and literature 
with themes and concepts relevant to the critical tourism literature. 
This review is loosely based on the structure of an honors undergraduate course regularly 
taught by one of the author(s). The works were chosen over a number of years based on 
particular tourism learning outcomes, but also how well they created a gestalt or holistic 
understanding of issues faced by the travel industry as a critical business (Tribe, 2008) when 
taken together. The films and books presented here were identified over many years from 
multiple sources, including, but not limited to, (1) researching and comparing published lists, 
newspaper columns, and personal blogs, (2) identifying films and books that directly address 
some critical tourism concept such as enlightenment, empowerment, and emancipation (3) 
examples cited by other tourism scholars, and to a lesser extent, (4) how well the work resonated 
with popular audiences as rated by IMDB, Metacritic, and Rotten Tomatoes, and (5) an emphasis 
on contemporary films and books. The films and books are arranged in a way that addressed 
more intuitive issues such as personal transformation, then moving toward more morally and 
ethical complex issues, bringing closer the parallel, yet related, arcs of critical tourism studies 
and tourism film and literature studies. 
 
References: 
Beeton, S. (2015). Film-induced tourism. Clevedon, UK: Channel View. 
Tribe, J. (2008). Tourism: A critical business. Journal of Travel Research, 46(3), 245–255.  


Travel and Tourism in Film and Literature: A Critical Review

Mooney, Shelagh

 
 
Title: Caught between a Rock and an Inhospitable Place: How Should Hospitality Students 
Negotiate the Changed Employment Landscape? 
Author: Shelagh Mooney 
Affiliation: Auckland University of Technology 
Contact: smooney@aut.ac.nz 
Session Type: Presentation 
 
Abstract: 
The scale of hospitality and tourism employment is extensive: one in 11 people (WTTC, 
2015) are employed across the sector globally. However, there appears to be a gap between the 
expectations of hospitality educators, hospitality employers, and students. This perspective is 
drawn from a synthesis of data obtained from semi-structured interviews with high-ranking 
global directors of corporate hospitality organisations in Europe and the Asia Pacific region; 
interviews with hospitality students in the first year and second year of their degree; and the 
researcher’s own research experiences and teaching of undergraduate and post-graduate students. 
Although perhaps an unconventional approach, the author argues that a symbiosis of findings of 
two studies with the same theoretical career framing, method of data collection, and 
intersectional analysis can provide robust insights into the pressing issue of tourism and 
hospitality workforce staff shortages. 
  
Managing the career expectations of students 
Hospitality undergraduate students represent unique challenges to hospitality educators. 
They are restless learners, discounting theory unless it appears to be directly related to their own 
experience or relevant to employment opportunities, and slow to transfer knowledge across 
discrete domains (Lashley, 2015). When their sometimes calculative approach to learning 
(Brinkman-Staneva, 2015) is viewed in tandem with the hospitality academy’s earnest (and 
potentially unrealistic) commitment to meeting industry’s vocational training goals (Airey & 
Tribe, 2000; Lashley, 2015; Wood, 2015), it can be seen that providing university standard 
education may be an ambitious objective. If neither industry nor the students appear to value a 
university holistic education, why persist? One justification could be that students’ desire for 
direct ‘employability’ related vocational education may not in fact prepare them adequately for a 
career in hospitality or, indeed, the adaptability required for other careers.  
There is a considerable body of literature that suggests that hospitality students’ desire to 
work in the hospitality sector after graduation is considerably eroded by negative workplace 
experiences (for example, Dagsland, Mykletun, & Einarsen, 2015; Ineson, Yap, & Whiting, 
2013; Maxwell, Ogden, & Broadbridge, 2010; Richardson, 2009; Richardson & Butler, 2012). 
However, to date, no studies have shown how this motivation changes over the course of their 
degree. Many studies also fail to take into consideration the increasingly globalised nature of the 
education marketplace. Some of the students in the study did not benchmark locally, but 
internationally. 
 
The nimble intersectional methodological approach  
Therefore, a longitudinal study was designed to qualitatively examine students shifting 
career perceptions in Year One, Two, and Three of their degree. The same group of 19 students 
have now been re-interviewed in the second year of their degree. The data has been analysed 
using a nimble intersectional (Mooney, 2016) approach. The nimble intersectional approach is 
 
 
based on the epistemological grounding of feminist research which states that researcher 
reflectivity is of paramount importance (Hesse-Biber & Piatelli, 2014). This contribution 
acknowledges the centrality of the researcher’s prior lengthy hospitality career and current 
employment in hospitality education and research.  
Here, first a theoretical framework was chosen in advance of the study, in this case career 
construction theory (Savickas, 2013). Second, the structural characteristics of employment and 
education in New Zealand were researched using secondary data sources. Third, symbolic 
representations about participants’ expectations and understandings of hospitality careers and 
employment in the sector were uncovered and, finally, cross-tabulated with age, gender, and 
ethnicity dimensions. This approach usefully responds to Baum, Kralj, Robinson, & Solnet’s 
(2016) exhortations to connect macro, miso, and micro dimensions in hospitality and tourism 
workforce studies and to ground meaningful career studies in a specific context (Gunz & 
Mayrhofer, 2011). The second study on which this paper is based also used semi-structured 
interviews and the nimble intersectional approach to investigate senior executives’ perceptions of 
career and talent management in the hospitality industry. 
  
Findings and discussion  
The preliminary analysis of data from students after the first year of their degree and 
second year of their degree suggests a somewhat startling change in student’s attitudes towards a 
career in the industry. Motivations to remain in the industry were reduced, and students’ revised 
ranking of important career factors have evolved to reflect a greater self-awareness and 
understanding of the sectoral employment context. The findings from the employers’ study 
indicate profound changes in the nature of work and employment at all levels of employment 
from corporate executive to entry level employee. The changes appear not only to be a 
consequence of more precarious work arrangements but also reflect demographic changes in 
some countries, for example, dual career family dynamics and Millennials’ use of technology 
and social media.  
 
Implications 
Significantly, similar themes emerged from both data sets. The findings indicate three 
areas of concern:  
1. Effectively managing students’ career expectations 
2. Bridging the gap between the hospitality industry and hospitality education  
3. The extent to which technology is impacting the employment landscape and the way 
students learn 
The findings provide a rich base for a vital conversation that needs to take place between 
educators and tourism organisations. Currently, it appears that students are between a rock and 
an inhospitable place, caught between their career visions and the reality of employment in the 
sector. Hospitality education can, and must, bridge the gap.  
 
References 
Airey, D., & Tribe, J. (2000). Education for hospitality. In C. Lashley & A. Morrison, eds., In  
Search of Hospitality. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann. 
Baum, T., Kralj, A., Robinson, R., & Solnet, D. (2016). Tourism workforce research: A review,  
taxonomy and agenda. Annals of Tourism Research, 60, 1–22. 
Brinkman-Staneva, M. (2015). The complexities of assessments in professional hospitality  
 
 
education. Quality Assurance in Education, 23(4), 339–352. 
Dagsland, Å.-H., Mykletun, R., & Einarsen, S. (2015). “We’re not slaves – we are actually the  
future!” A follow-up study of apprentices’ experiences in the Norwegian hospitality 
industry. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 1–22. 
Gunz, H., & Mayrhofer, W. (2011). Re-conceptualizing career success: A contextual approach.  
Zeitschrift Für Arbeitsmarkt Forschung, 43(3), 251–260. 
Hesse-Biber, S., & Piatelli, D. (2014). The feminist practice of holistic reflexivity. In S. Hesse- 
Biber, ed., Handbook of Feminist Research: Theory and Praxis, 2nd edition (pp. 557–
582). Guilford Publications. 
Ineson, E.M., Yap, M.H.T., & Whiting, G. (2013). Sexual discrimination and harassment in the  
hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 35, 1–9. 
Lashley, C. (2015). Hospitality studies: Escaping the tyranny? Quality Assurance in Education.  
https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-04-2015-0014 
Maxwell, G.A., Ogden, S., & Broadbridge, A. (2010). Generation Y’s career expectations and  
aspirations: Engagement in the hospitality industry. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism 
Management, 17(1), 1–9. 
Mooney, S. (2016). Nimble intersectionality in employment research: A way to resolve  
methodological dilemmas. Work, Employment, & Society, 30(4), 708–718. 
Richardson, S. (2009). Undergraduates’ perceptions of tourism and hospitality as a career choice.  
International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(3), 382–388. 
Richardson, S., & Butler, G. (2012). Attitudes of Malaysian tourism and hospitality students  
towards a career in the industry. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 17(3), 262–
276. 
Savickas, M. (2013). The theory and practice of career construction. In S. Brown & R. Lent,  
eds., Career Development and Counseling: Putting Theory and Research to Work, 2nd 
edition (pp. 147–183). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. 
Wood, R. (2015). “Folk” understandings of quality in UK higher hospitality education. Quality  
Assurance in Education. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-04-2015-0015 
WTTC. (2015). 14 million jobs at risk due to global Travel and Tourism talent shortage. WTTC.  
Retrieved November 18, 2015, from http://www.wttc.org/press-room/press-
releases/2015/14-million-jobs-at-risk-due-to-global-travel-tourism-talent-shortage/ 
 
 
  


Caught between a Rock and an Inhospitable Place: How Should Hospitality Students Negotiate the Changed Employment Landscape?

Miller, Maggie

 
 
Title: Stories from the Solukhumbu: Exploring the Complexities of the Adventure Tourism 
Industry of Nepal 
Author: Maggie Miller 
Affiliation: University of Waterloo 
Contact: m4miller@uwaterloo.ca 
Session Type: Presentation 
 
Abstract: 
Mountaineering is the cornerstone of Nepal’s $370-million-a-year adventure tourism 
industry. Each year, Climbing Sherpas lead foreign mountaineers (paying clients) up the 
southeast ridge of Mt. Everest as they make their bids for the summit. These Sherpas commit 
themselves to securing and saving the lives of their clients by doing much of the dangerous 
labour, often jeopardising their own lives in the process (Davis, 2014; National Public Radio 
[NPR], 2013; Peedom, 2015). 
Social justice concerns arise as tensions grow between the international demand to climb 
and the risks and fatalities associated with summit attempts. Mountaineering is an extreme sport, 
historically reserved for highly skilled climbers. However, it is becoming increasingly blurred 
with our understandings of adventure tourism, as a recreational activity open to anyone with the 
financial means to participate. Consequently, the industry is critiqued for the ways in which 
people with “means,” regardless of experience, pursue mountains like Mt. Everest (Davis, 2014; 
Shaffer, 2013). Moreover, within current mountaineering, tourism, and leisure discourses, 
perspectives from Sherpas have been limited (notable exceptions are Bott, 2009; Ortner, 1999). 
Stemming from critiques of Nepal’s growing adventure tourism industry, and recognising the 
centrality of Sherpas’ roles within it, this presentation considers Climbing Sherpas’ stories of 
living and dying in mountaineering within the Solukhumbu (commonly known as the Mt. 
Everest Region) of Nepal. Drawing on fieldwork observations and audio- and video-recorded 
interviews conducted in Nepal in 2015, this narrative inquiry explored the stories of current and 
retired Climbing Sherpas to glean insights around how they experience life and death on the 
mountainside. In this presentation, visual representations (e.g., film excerpts) are used to 
privilege Sherpas’ voices in this presentation, decentering dominant narratives (e.g., foreign 
climbers, media accounts) (Bochner, 2001; Pink, 2007, 2015). As the Climbing Sherpas have a 
vital role to play with regard to the sustainable development of Nepal’s mountaineering and 
adventure tourism industries, it is imperative that tourism researchers continue to include and 
consider their voices and complex stories. 
Analysis of narrative findings reveals an interplay of death, pride, responsibility, and 
power in experiences of freedom on the mountainside. Sherpas’ participation in mountaineering 
expeditions is reflective of socio-economic pressures faced off the mountain, but is also 
increasingly related to the perceived name and fame that comes with successful mountain 
summits. Furthermore, encounters with death provide a space to critique tourism development. 
Sherpas affected by disasters, death, and the like find themselves “betwixt and between” (Turner, 
1969, p. 95). Liminality, an anthropological concept introduced by Arnold van Gennep (1960), 
becomes transformative, as Sherpas and their communities use these moments of uncertainty to 
take stock of the purpose of their lives, mobilize agency, and challenge the status quo of the 
“Everest Industry.” 
 
 
 
 
References: 
Bochner, A.P. (2001). Narrative’s virtues. Qualitative Inquiry, 7(2), 131–157. 
Bott, E. (2009). Big mountain, big name: Globalised relations of risk in Himalayan  
mountaineering. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, 7(4), 287–301. 
Davis, W. (2014, Apr. 26). As equals on the mountain, the Sherpas deserve better. The Globe and  
Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/as-equals-on-the- 
mountain-the-sherpas-deserve-better/article18209186/ 
National Public Radio [NPR]. (2013). On Mount Everest, Sherpa guides bear the brunt of the  
danger [Online]. NPR Fresh Air. Available at: 
http://www.npr.org/2013/08/14/206704533/on-mounteverest-sherpa-guides-bear-the- 
brunt-of-the-danger [Accessed 21 August 2013]. 
Ortner, S.B. (1999). Life and death on Mt. Everest: Sherpas and Himalayan mountaineering. 
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 
Peedom, J. (Director) (2015). Sherpa: Trouble on Everest [Documentary]. Australia: Screen  
Australia. 
Pink, S. (2007). Doing visual ethnography, 2nd edition. London: Sage. 
Pink, S. (2015). Doing sensory ethnography, 2nd edition. Los Angeles: Sage.  
Schaffer, G. (2013, July 10). The disposable man: A western history of Sherpas on Everest.  
Outside Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor- 
adventure/climbing/mountaineering/Disposable-Man-History-of-the-Sherpa-on- 
Everest.html. 
Turner, V. (1969). The ritual process: Structure and anti-structure. Chicago: Aldine Press.  
van Gennep, A. (1960). The rites of passage. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 
 
 
 
  


Not a member yet